I am a bit of a political junkie. Politics has always been interesting to me, and I believe it’s our responsibility as Christians to be involved in the political process.
Just as a heads up- it’s likely that if you are very committed to one side of the aisle, this post may offend you. It’s not meant to offend- it’s meant to challenge our thinking and move towards being biblical and not just political.
One thing I’ve begun to notice, however- perhaps more so over the past three years than before- is that Christians who are involved in the process on both sides of the aisle tend to place their political party’s or their ideological agenda on the same plane as God’s agenda.
For many politically minded followers of Jesus, too often we make our preferred political agenda synonymous with the mission of God.
Now, please don’t get me wrong. There are some goals from either side of the aisle that we should pursue- but it’s not because they are political. It’s because they are biblical. For instance:
- We must have compassion for and take care of the poor, the immigrant, and the refugee because they are people made in God’s image (Leviticus 19:33-34 and Exodus 23:6).
- We must protect the rights of the unborn because all life is precious to God (Psalm 139: 13-16).
- We must pursue racial reconciliation because the Gospel demands it (Ephesians 2:14-22).
- We must define marriage and sexuality as God does in His Word because marriage is a picture of the Gospel (Genesis 1:27 and 2:24; Ephesians 5:31-32).
Those issues are not- and should not be- political matters. They are biblical matters.
Unfortunately, we’ve turned them political and used them as clubs against the other side because of one simple reason: We are often more committed to the agenda of our party than the agenda of Jesus.
I know Christmas-time seems like an odd time to bring this up…but one of the key passages on Immanuel- Jesus- says this:
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness.- Isaiah 9:7 (emphasis added)
There will only be one government at the end of the day- and it will not reside in Washington, D.C. It will not be the party of the elephant or the party of the donkey.
It will be Jesus’ government, and it will not be a democracy or a constitutional republic. It will be an absolute monarchy where He is King.
In fact, this Kingdom already exists. Jesus brought it into existence through His life, death, and resurrection. And while we don’t see it’s fullness on earth yet, it is already here through the body of Christ, the church.
Now, that begs the question: If the Kingdom of God is already in existence and there is one King, what then should be the agenda of the people of the Kingdom?
The King’s agenda.
There is not room for another agenda- there is only room for the King’s agenda. And the King summed up His agenda- His whole reason for coming to earth in the first place, like this:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.- Luke 19:10
Jesus didn’t come to endorse a political candidate. He came to reach lost people. When that becomes our agenda, advancing our political goals don’t become unimportant- they just become less important. Not only that, when the King’s agenda is our agenda, we become willing to buck our own party for the sake of the mission. We stop pursuing political orthodoxy and begin pursuing biblical consistency and obedience- for the sake of God’s glory and the sake of the mission.
I believe we will be much more effective in our mission when we understand this- because it’s hard to take someone seriously when they talk about Jesus and yet cherry pick pet issues while ignoring others (and that’s exactly what we do when we are beholden to a political party over the King’s agenda). When we cherry pick things, we forfeit our moral authority.
On the other hand, when we embrace the King’s agenda and value His Word over political orthodoxy- that gives us two legs to stand on because it not only makes us consistent- it makes us obedient. And it puts our focus where it belongs: bringing people into the Kingdom by showing them the love of Jesus and sharing with them the love of Jesus…instead of putting a party or a president in office.
Party’s and president’s will fade away- but of the increase of Jesus’ Kingdom there will be no end. Let’s put our focus on THAT agenda.